David Bowie fans will be congregating next week at a rather unlikely Newcastle venue – a car dealership.

The big attraction is an exhibition by Denis O’Regan who photographed Bowie many times, on stage and socially.

David and I: My photographic account of travelling the world with David Bowie is showing for one night only – Thursday, May 25 – at Lloyd MINI on Barrack Road.

No point trying to get a ticket. The event, since this is not a theatre or an arena, is sold out.

But ahead of the event, Denis O’Regan shared a few memories of the idiosyncratic superstar whose death on January 10 last year provoked an international outpouring of grief and appreciation for a life well lived.

“I first saw him at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973 when he was on his Ziggy Stardust tour,” recalled the Londoner.

Denis O'Regan talking to people about his work (Image: Off Beat Lounge)

“I managed to grab a photograph of him as a fan but then I became a professional photographer and worked for NME (New Musical Express).

“They sent me up to Newcastle about five years later to shoot him at Newcastle City Hall.”

Our newspaper archives are full of references to that particular landmark in the region’s musical history.

There was great excitement. Bowie hadn’t toured Britain for five years but in 1978 decided to open with three concerts at the City Hall.

The demand for tickets far outstripped supply but nobody knew quite what to expect after the drama of Ziggy Stardust.

“The uncertainty of it all was part of the appeal,” noted The Journal’s reviewer.

“So what did they see? An unusual, undramatic entrance for Bowie – in shirt and baggy green trousers – who stood to one side with arms folded while a conductor directed a symphonic fugue.”

Later Bowie returned in a snakeskin jacket and even baggier trousers, and during the encores added a sailor’s hat to the ensemble and then a red dressing gown.

Bowie chilling, a portrait by Denis O'Regan (Image: Denis O'Regan)

Among those right at the front on that same night – June 14, 1978 – was Denis O’Regan with his camera.

“As a photographer for a newspaper you got the first three songs,” he remembered.

“After the three songs I was supposed to leave but the City Hall has this big balcony, so after those three songs I went up there.”

Denis, who is now 63, started his working life as a trainee broker in the City of London and then became a trainee underwriter at Lloyd’s.

But he was well into music, having seen The Beatles at Hammersmith Odeon with his mum in 1964, and also photography, which he taught himself to do well through trial and error.

Packing in the City day job, he toured Europe before returning to London to document the punk scene and then win the trust of some of the biggest musical acts on the planet.

His relationship with Bowie blossomed and Denis became the official photographer on the singer’s tours in 1983 (Serious Moonlight), 1987 (Glass Spider) and 1990 (Sound and Vision).

Bowie meeting some boys who may not be fans - photo by Denis O'Regan (Image: Denis O'Regan)

“When I was on tour with him, I could do whatever I wanted,” Denis recalled.

“I used to spend every day with him and we did become very close. I travelled with him on a private jet and would be in the dressing room when he was getting the make-up on.

“There was zero control, although I knew that in the end he would tell me what he wanted me to use.”

He has been the photographer at major events including Live Aid and The Concert for Diana.

But few subjects can have been as photogenic or constantly surprising as Bowie.

Denis said he has many photographs of him, a lot of them stored in print and negative form, and some of those on show in Newcastle will not have been seen in public before.

In answer to an obvious question, he confirmed a book is in the offing.

“I’d already been talking to David for three years about doing a really big book so I will be doing that.

“One will be coming out next year to coincide with a box set of CDs from that era.”

The original plan was that Bowie would have been around to see the book.

Hearing the news of his death was “terrible”, said Denis.

“We knew there was something wrong but I didn’t realise how ill he really was. I have an 11-year-old son and we were playing tracks from that last album and I was asking him what he thought. Then the next morning we heard he was dead.”

Of all the many photos he took of Bowie, Denis admitted he does have a favourite.

It’s the one you see here, which he took at Newcastle City Hall all those years ago when he was still a rookie photographer.

“I just caught a moment when he was holding the microphone to his side and it’s so David.

“It has something of the iconic quality of that famous Che Guevara photograph (immortalised on a million student posters and tee-shirt).”

Denis is coming back to Newcastle with Off Beat Lounge which specialises in the publication and exhibition of fine art rock photography.

This is the second such UK tour, following last year’s which featured Bruce Springsteen and attracted fans from across Europe.

“I’m really looking forward to coming to Newcastle for this exhibition, which pulls together a decade of travelling around the world with David,” said Denis.

“It’s been a real trip down memory lane for me, of time I spent with a great, great friend, both on stage and during our down time between concerts.”